Phoenix
Member
When he stopped and turned, she skidded to a stop alongside him. She gritted her teeth against the throbbing pain in her side and looked up at him. She went to speak, but the words died in her throat as she saw his eyes again.
God, he was beautiful like this. She didn’t know what had changed. His eyes glittered in a way she couldn’t describe, but she could read so clearly what they were saying to her, and it made her heart twist in her chest. The rope between them tightened, and she stepped forward, following its lead. Her breathing picked up in a way that was unrelated to the pain in her side or the exhaustion that was starting to settle in her head.
Mine.
She swallowed hard and did the only thing she could think to do. She stepped up to him and placed a hand on his chest. Her touch was tentative and gentle, as though she were afraid of breaking whatever spell had caused their bond to snap into place. Something in the back of her head was screaming at her, warning bells that were too distant for her to really hear. A faint itch in the back of her mind.
Sam kept her eyes on his borrowed ones, on the tilted mask. What was that in them? What was that that had caused all of this to finally fall into place? That joy, which looked so much like the one she had seen in her dreams, it lingered in those eyes that screamed Mine at her. She could feel that claim resonate through the bond and fill her with the most peculiar feeling.
It wasn’t quite belonging. It wasn’t quite a return of the Mine, though that was present in her too. It was somewhere between an acceptance of his claim and… a fear of it. She didn’t understand what it was that was in his eyes, but the depth of what was between them now startled her and made her tremble. Was that fear of what was between them, or was it pain? Did it even matter right then?
No. No, it didn’t.
“Todd, you just left me. You just left me back there. Why would you– after– do you not feel–?” She stammered the words out, a hand still pressed to his chest despite the trembling that was starting to set into her limbs.
He had left her, alone, when any other time he would have run to her. They were always each other’s first priority. After the kidnapping, he’d been especially careful when they ended up in fights. He always went to her first before chasing. He always made sure she was okay before he left her side. But this time, he had just left her. Again, in the back of her mind, was an itch. She couldn’t hear the siren that was blaring beneath her foggy and thick hyper-focused thoughts.
All that mattered was he was there, and this bond was tightening by the moment, and she felt like she couldn’t breathe without him ever again. And that scared her. He was scaring her. He was… scaring her? She searched his eyes, trying to tell herself that was wrong. It was wrong because fear was the last thing she felt, especially right then, so close to him. Especially right then, touching him. Especially right then, watching him.
She swallowed again and lifted her other hand to his shoulder, her fingers feather-light on his coat. Whatever this was, it would be fine. Whatever this was, it would be fine. Whatever this was, it would be fine. Whatever this was, it would be–
“Todd, do you feel it too?”